Method of applying a decalcomania



' March 22, 1938. J. F. M NUTT 2,111,397

METHOD OF APPLYING A DECALCOMANIA Filed Nov. 16, 1935 a T/ME l/V HUURSIN VENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

UNIT STATES PATENT OFFICE QMETHOD F APPLYING a DECALCOMANIA JamesF.McNutt, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to The American Decal Corporation,Youngsv town, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 16, 1935,Serial No. 50,167

2 Claims. (01. 41- 33) This invention relates to a method of applying 'adesign or label to an object or container having a vitreous surface. Oneof theobjects of the invention is to provide readily fusewith thesurface to be decorated. When the decalcomania is applied to the surfaceto bedecorated, the backing strip is removed and the collodiorrfilmapplied to the surface to be decorated. The object is then fired tocause the design to be fused with such surface. If the object is firedat too high a temperature at the begin ningflor' if the temperature isincreased too rapid- 1y, thecollodion film may be consumed too rapidlyor sumciently rapid oxidation may take place to injure or destroy thedesign. The object should be first fired at a sufficiently lowtemperature and at a sufficiently low rate of increase in temperaturethat the film will be consumed or volatilized without injury to thedesign. The temperature of the object being fired should preferably notexceed about 450 F. during the'first hour of the firing operation;Ifthis precaution is taken, the

-.film will be consumed without injury to the design and-the design willadhere to the surface 'to be decorated and become fused with suchsurface upon further heating at a higher temperature. The temperaturerequired to effect a proper fusing is usually between 1100 and 1200 F.or

slightly below the fusing point of the surface to be decorated.

Further and more limited objects of my invention will appear as thedescription proceeds and period of time to soften it and to facilitateits application to the surface to be decorated. The 1 decalcomania isthen placed over the bottle or other surface which is to be decoratedwith the backing strip contiguous to such surface and the designoutermost. As the decalcomania has been soaked in water for some time,the water soluble mucilaginous pastels softened and the backing stripmay be readily removed, leaving only the collodion film with the designthereon and having on thevreverse side thereof a very small amount ofadhesive material which enables the film to stick on the surface to bedecorated and eliminates the necessity for first coating such surfacewith a varnish. As this backing strip is removed the collodion film ispressed into contact with the surface to be decorated. The thickness ofthis collodion film is such that it may be handled or moved around onthe surface ofthe bottle if it is. not located in the proper position.The bottle with the decalcomania applied thereto is then placed in akiln or other suitable retort heated in any suitable manner. Accordingto the preferred methodof practicing the invention I fire the object byslowly raising the temperature 5 adecalcomaniaand method of applyingthe-same y r fe t th a mpanyi d aw n in 5 to an object or containerhaving a vitreous surwhich 1 -a m w graphic illustration face whichconsist essentially i applying t t .indicating the preferred manner inwhich the surface to be decorated a collodion film con- Object ul efired and Fig- 2 is a section l m taining thereon a, d i n containingpigment view of a label or decalcomania before it is apand a. materialwhi h will readily fu ewith t plied to the surface to be decorated, thethickness surface to be decorated and then firing the object beinggreatly exaggeratedby first heating 11-, slowly d t unifor rat Referringnow to the drawing the decalcoof. increase in temperature until itreaches a tem- V mania consists s ntially of a backing strip M 'peratureof b t 450 and t raising the i formed of suitable flexible material suchas temperature to about 1200* F. at a faster rate of Paper and to whichis Secured collodion film 2 15 increase and'for sufficieni; perlodf timeto which is held thereon preferably by means of a caus th design t bethoroughly fu d with'the water soluble mucilaginous paste 3. The refer-.surfaceibe'lfig decorated, ence character 4 designates the design whichis 2 In my Reissue Patent No. 19,839, dated Janucarried by the exposedsurface of the 9 o ary 23, 193 I v disclosed a decalcomania film and thereference character 5 designates a and method of making the same. Ihave'found layer, of finely divided Particles P ,greund glassthatadesignappliedasdescribed therein is likely 9 which (Wars the deslgnand which to become .lnjured or destroyed the object is when subjectedto heat forms a smooth, thin,

5 subjected to too high a temperature at the betransparm the designl lof t firin opera/010m According to the preferred method of applying Mdecalcomanla p ef bl consists f a the decalcomania to the surface to bedecorated, lodion film attached to a backing strip and to thedecalcomania' pepared Preferably th exposed urfa bf which is amxed adesign scribed in my copendlng application hereinbefore 6 containingaPlEment and a material which will referred to, is soaked in water for asufficient for the first hour and at a uniformly increasing rate untilit reaches a temperature of about 450 F. The temperature is preferablygradually increased at the rate of about 7.5 F. per minute until atemperature of about 450 F. is reached. After this temperature isreached the object may be heated either rapidly or slowly and at anydesired rate of increase until a temperature between 1100 and 1200 F. isreached, depending upon the nature of the object being decorated. Thisusually requires about an hour in order to thoroughly fuse the designwith the surface being decorated. As the object is first heated slowlyand at a uniforrnly increasing rate, the collodion film will be consumedor volatilized without producing a flame or sufficiently hightemperature to injure or destroy the design, that is, the pigment andvehicle. The design will adhere to the surface being decorated and thefilm will be entirely consumed. The letters or designs forming the labelpenetrate the body being decorated and become thoroughly and permanentlyfused and integrated therewith. The outer layer of material on thecollodion film also fuses with the object and forms a thin, smooth,transparent film over the surface of the design or label and it isimpossible to remove the design or label thus applied by any meanswhatsoever without destroying the identity of the object or design.

The particular ink and the particular manner of forming the design onthe collodion film form no part of this invention and are described inmy copending application hereinbefore referred to.

It will now be clear that I have provided a method of applying a designor label to an object having a vitreous surface which will accomplishthe objects of the invention as hereinbefore stated. It is, of course,to be understood that the embodiment of the invention herein disclosedis merely illustrative and is not to be considered in a limiting sense.It is also to be understood that I do not limit myself to any particularink or mixture of vehicle and pigment as various mixtures and colors orcombination of colors and designs may be used depending upon theexigencies of the occasion and the nature of the parammo? ticular objectbeing decorated. In the specification and claims I referto the film ofmaterial to which the design is applied as a collodion film. By thisterm I mean to include any material of a similar nature or foundationwhich is homogeneous and non-fibrous, such as cellulose nitrate,cellulose acetate, celluloid, viscose or pyroxylin, but to exclude suchmaterial as paper. It is also to be understood that the particular rateof increase in temperature illustrated in the drawing may be variedslightly depending upon the particular nature of the object beingdecorated although I have found that the best results are obtained ifthe object is fired substantially as described although the invention islimited only in accordance with the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The method of applying a decalcomania to an object having a vitreoussurface which consists in applying to such surface a collodion filmhaving a design thereon containing a pigment and a material that willreadily fuse with the surface to be decorated, then firing the object byheating it first at a sufficiently low temperature and at a sufficientlylow rate of increase in temperature to cause the film to be consumed andthe design to become attached to such surface without injury to thedesign and then heating it at a sufficiently high temperature tothoroughly fuse the design with such surface.

2. The method of applying a decalcomania to a vitreous fusible surfacewhich consists in applying to such surface a collodion film having adesign formed thereon containing a pigment and a material which willreadily fuse with the surface to be decorated, then heating the surfaceand film to about 450 F. at a sufficiently low rate of increase intemperature to cause the film to be consumed and the design to becomeattached to such surface without injury to the design 'and thenprogressively increasing the temperature of the surface being decoratedto between 1100 F. and 1200 F. to thoroughly fuse the design with suchsurface.

- JAMES F. McNUTT.

